• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2008.11b
• /
• pp.2501-2504
• /
• 2008

We found that a droplet placed on a superhydrophobic surface jumps upward when we controlled the electrical wetting tension appropriately by applying AC voltage. We investigated how the surface deformation and jumping phenomenon of a droplet are affected by applied frequency under constant voltage. We found that a droplet jumps up continuously at a resonance frequency.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.345-360
• /
• 2019

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) is one of the leading advanced energy conversion technology for the use in transport. It generates water droplets through the catalytic processes and dispenses the water through the gas-flowed microchannels. The droplets in the dispensing microchannel experience g-forces from different directions during the operation in transport. Therefore, this paper reviews the computational modelling topics of droplet dynamics behaviour specifically for three categories, i.e. (i) the droplet sliding down a surface, (ii) the droplet moving in a gas-flowed microchannel, and (iii) the droplet jumping upon coalescence on superhydrophobic surface; in particular for the parameters like hydrophobicity surfaces, droplet sizes, numerical methods, channel sizes, wall conditions, popular references and boundary conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.384.2-384.2
• /
• 2016

Recent publications reported the self-propelled jumping of coalescing dew droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces [1-2]. We further investigated the initial growth, coalescence, and removal by self-propelled ejection of nano and microscopic water droplets on the superhydrophobic surface of lotus leaves under condensing conditions. By using a high-speed digital camera mounted on an optical microscope, we have found: (1) sub-micrometer droplets form and grow on nanoscale waxy hairs; (2) growing droplets coalesce rapidly upon contact, but never jump off the surface unless the diameter of merged droplets exceeds ${\sim}15{\mu}m$; (3) the diameter and direction of jumping droplets are very narrowly distributed, centered at $20-30{\mu}m$ and ${\sim}20$ degrees from the surface normal, respectively. We present a rationale for these observations on the basis of: (a) the hierarchically rough surface structure on nano- and micro-scales; (b) its chemical composition; and (c) the balance among competing forces of cohesion (surface tension), adhesion and gravity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.157.2-157.2
• /
• 2016

Water repellent surfaces may enhance the condensation by efficiently removing the condensed droplets. However, such surfaces may lose their original performance as they are exposed to external mechanical stresses. In this work, we fabricated spray-coated mechanically robust superhydrophobic surfaces using treated titanium dioxide (Type 1) or silica particles (Type 2). Then we compared the mechanical robustness of such surfaces with the silane-coated superhydrophobic surface and PEEK coated surface using a controlled-sand blasting method. The results show that the spray-coated samples can maintain the same level of the contact angle hysteresis than silane-coated superhydorphobic surface after sand blasting at 2 bar. The spray-coating method was applied to the tube type condenser and the condensation behaviors were observed within the environmental chamber with controlled pressure, humidity and non-condensable gas. Previously-reported droplet jumping was observed in the early stage of the condensation event, but soon the droplet jumping stopped and only dropwise condensation was observed since the condensed droplets were pinned on the cracks at spray-coated surfaces. The static contact angle decreases from $158.0^{\circ}$ to $133.2^{\circ}$, and hysteresis increases from $3.0^{\circ}$ to $23.5^{\circ}$ when active condensation occurs on such surfaces. This work suggests the benefits and limitation of spray-coated superhydrophobic condensers and help develop advanced condensers for practical use.